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Importance Of Playtime In Preschool: 8 Benefits Of Playing With Peers

Diverse preschool children playing on playgroundHigh quality Coral Springs preschool offers many advantages, and playtime provides some of the biggest and most surprising benefits of all. Your child spends a great deal of their day playing games with peers during preschool class. It may look like all fun and games but these activities serve a rather big purpose, benefiting your child educationally, socially, emotionally and more.

The Benefits Of Preschool

Children that did not attend preschool tend to do worse all throughout life than their peers that did attend preschool, and we are talking long past college and into their future careers. Long-term studies have documented measurable advantages to preschool, even 20-years after a child was promoted to kindergarten. Of course, these benefits have to do with more than just playtime.

A high quality preschool gives your child a surplus of learning materials they would otherwise not be exposed to, thus putting them ahead of their classmates before kindergarten even begins. Yet, many benefits are a direct result of playtime in preschool. For instance, children that are experienced at socializing when entering kindergarten will feel less anxiety about things like group activities and recess. They also have better communication skills, plus so much more.

Playtime may look like a bunch of fun but it’s so much more than that. Here are 8 important benefits of playtime in preschool.

Improved Socialization Skills

Socializing is a part of life and the earlier your child becomes well versed at it, the better. You could take your child to the park where they play with new kids they’ve never met before, but the unique thing about preschool is that your child plays with the same peers day after day. This promotes a different level of social skills than meeting strangers at the park, playing with them for an hour or so and then never seeing them again. 

Preschool students are not only making friends but they are learning how to keep friends. Preschool peers are bound to disagree and even argue, but this is all for the better because it helps children learn how to deal with confrontation. Preschool teachers are prepared to handle these sorts of issues, helping children learn the best ways to deal with others in difficult situations.

Playtime Is Comforting For Kids

A simple benefit of preschool playtime is the comfort it provides. It can be scary for children when they first start preschool, after all they are used to spending all day at home with their parents or caretaker. Playtime provides fun encouragement that reminds children of being at home, which is comforting as they go through this transition. 

Improved Problem Solving Skills

Playtime is where children often encounter small problems… like perhaps there are 4 kids that want to play a game meant for 3-players, how will they work it out so everyone has a chance to participate? Or, perhaps they want to play a game but don’t understand the rules. Sometimes these issues lead to an argument or someone’s feelings getting hurt. Facing these sorts of struggles is great for children, as it teaches them early on how to move past issues and problem solve.

Evnhanced Language Skills

When your child is at home they don’t necessarily have to use their words to get what they want, siblings and parents tend to know what they need by just looking at them. At school, no one knows your child like his or her own family. This forces them to use language skills to communicate their needs and wants to others.

Children must communicate with other children and work as a team in order to successfully enjoy playtime. Your child will quickly pick up important language skills in the process.

A quality preschool will stress using words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ as well as teaching kids different tones of voices and how they make others feel. It’s not always just words but the ways in which they are expressed.

Your child must also learn to be their own advocate in order to secure what they want in a situation. This involves developing a strong set of language skills that your child will use all throughout life.

A Way To Release Energy And Emotions

Preschoolers are full of energy and oftentimes seem like they are catapulting out of control. Thankfully, playtime wears kids out in a good way, making productive use of their bustling energy. But it’s not just energy; playtime also helps kids deal with their vast range of emotions. 

Kids feel sadness, excitement, frustration, joy and stress—just like you and I. Yet, they lack the same understanding and coping mechanisms to know what their feelings are, why they have them and how to deal. As a result they get out of control at times. Playtime lets kids imagine and role-play, which fosters the ability to openly discuss and act out emotions with their peers.

Playing games in preschool involves kids running, yelling, and just being kids. This opportunity allows them to release pent up frustrations that could otherwise result in a temper tantrum. Playtime is also important as it helps your child calm down later when asked to sit at their desk and learn important information, instead of feeling too antsy to concentrate.

Encourages Physical Development

Your child’s physical development is just as important as their cognitive development. Playtime involves running, jumping, climbing, grabbing, throwing and so many other movements your child will greatly benefit from physically. The more your child partakes in these physical actions the stronger they become. 

One major improvement of all of this movement is your child’s balance. As their balance and physical strength improves so will their confidence, as well as ability and drive to try new forms of physical activity. A healthy body helps breed a healthy mind. Plus, with child obesity on the rise your child can use as much exercise as possible.

Increased Imagination

You can play all the games you want at home to help spur creativity, but nothing compares to kids interacting with children of the same age during playtime. The more your kid is able to play pretend the stronger and brighter their creativity and imagination becomes.

When kids play together imaginations run wild as they come up with new scenarios and creative games. Children also love to role-play, taking on adult positions such as teachers, cops, firemen, moms, etc. This sort of play actually helps your child better understand where people are coming from, as they have stepped into someone else’s shoes during playtime. All of this equates to a lot of fun for your child, but it also provides countless benefits that will continue to show up over the long run.

Playtime Prepares Children For Elementary School & Beyond

Your child’s next step after preschool is kindergarten followed by elementary school, middle school and then it’s off to high school before college. This is years and years of education, in which the ability to socialize can make the difference between a healthy experience and a non-desirable one.

If your child learns how to play well with others at an early age, this will carry over into their future experiences and relationships. In preschool all kids are new to the concepts of getting along and playing with others. Yet, once they reach higher levels of education this is no longer the case, making mishaps and social mistakes less readily accepted. If your child learns ahead of the game it could prevent a lot of issues in the future.

What If Your Child Doesn’t Get Enough Playtime?

Children that do not get enough playtime with peers experience a number of drawbacks. Researchers have found all modern children incur greater levels of stress than children did back in the day. Without playtime and peers to relate to, this stress is further increased and could present itself in a number of negative ways, from increased temper tantrums to social anxieties. Children that do not have plenty of playtime spend their free time doing other things, such as playing video games or watching TV, none of which are beneficial to their long term success. 

At ABC Learning, playtime is an important part of both our daycare and preschool programs. We provide a safe playtime environment that sets your child up for success today and long into their bright future. (Reference 1,  Reference 2)

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